[before I begin: the tornadoes took out my internet, so I couldn’t reply to demi or say goodnight to Eve. Sorry fellahs.]
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Demi: in a way, it’s kind of like “what if Echo Bazaar had Inventor instead of Shadowy?”
яadical νael: No, it’s more like, what if Echo Bazaar was actually a game?
Demi: raising different bars is more of a game than EBZ?
Demi: I mean, how do we define a game? what’s gameplay, or what qualifies as interactivity?
Demi: I felt betrayed when I realized that FF XIII was a game of “my numbers are bigger than yours,” and NOTHING but that
яadical νael: And an RPG is what, beyond raising a bar to a storyline?
Demi: it feels different in a browser, and with a game so unique as EBZ, to have something similar to what already exists
Demi: it would be hard not to see it as EBZ with a different coat of paint, the same sort of crap that facebook games pull all the time
Now Demi, do you really think I could pull off such a ruse as a game design? You may remember in the beginning of my envisioning for game 3 that I said “stealing a soul in game 3 is different than in EBZ, because you would actually be doing it”. The fact you can even *actually* do anything is enough to be interested because it instantly adds that fact to the narrative. “I went there, and THEN I talked to the person.” Instead of clicking on the storylet that tells you you did. “Casing” a place to rob may not be too different from EBZ, but how could it be? How much do I develop just to, what, perhaps make casing a bit more interesting, when there’s pickpocketing, lockpicking, and arson available to the player?
As I said, RPGs are “raising bars” along to a storyline, and while some gameplay is just so damned interesting that you simply must continue playing, (see your latest addiction to final fantasy’s job system) I’m not creating those kinds of systems. I’m slowly leaning towards more and more story-driven gameplay, but that doesn’t mean I’m neglecting the fact that I am still making a game. EBZ is wonderful, but we both know it’s not much of a game, and that being true has even made its players (players?!) question what a game truly is.
I will have basic expected elements available. Where I gain points in shadowy in EBZ, as you say, and my game has “the inventor”, the bars we raise end there. I’m planning - and Jehovah knows it’s planning - to have each levelup allow for one buff from the track’s buff bubble. (rather than a skill tree; I’m still working out the kinks) If you’re interested in home security or improvement, you’ll take a skill that makes such things easier. If you want to build trinkets/tools for others and sell those things, you take… I dunno, “toy creation”! and get a free randomized *toy* recipe.
I hope right now my readers are considering feature creep - the fact I’m coding too much shit and will never finish. As I said, I plan this to be its own engine, and I have my own reasons for that, but even then, this isn’t an arduous process. I want every god-damned item in the game to be ridiculously derivative/referential. That toy, and the recipe it’s derived from, is made of [recipe requires!] 2 brass and a sprocket. When you deconstruct it for mats, you’ll get those. [sorta] If someone literally throws it into a fire, I want my system to be able to say “Hmm, brass, that doesn’t burn well.” simply by looking at its object in the database. Anyone can deconstruct, but inventors would naturally do it better. (and for narrative’s sake, you won’t be seeing some alchemist bullshit like “you made an extra toy out of nothing because you’re so pro at inventing!!!”)
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I probably don’t have much to worry about when Eve’s becoming more and more a better writer. All I know is I want the game/engine to be story-driven. Check out a nice post she’s written here.
http://evevictus.tumblr.com/post/6100552505/weird-dream
It’s not often, but when she does write, I like it.